Thousands gather to raise money for charity at three polar-bear plunges each winter. The numbers send a chill down your spine.

A wilderness? A suburban neighborhood? East Hampton's answer to the lost Jamestown settlement? Richard Whalen delves deep into the history and lore of the mysterious and beckoning Northwest Woods

Berton Roueché and his wife, Kay, lived on the north side of Amagansett in the early 1970s. Nearby was Quail Hill and its doyenne, Deborah Light Perry, who tended a covey of 36 cats — inspiring Roueché's pulp horror novel, Feral. David Rattray remembers a time, a place, and an incredible cast of characters from a less-tame past

There may be a word in Italian for "turkey," sure. (It's "tacchino.") But according to Joe Isidori of Arthur & Sons, roast turkey simply isn't the Italian-American way. When it comes to family gatherings for the winter holidays? Lasagna

So, you've given up refined sugar for the good of your health. But... but what in the heck do you eat for a sweet treat when cookie-platter and eggnog season arrives?

Chilled to the bone? We've slurped our way to a definitive list of the best takeout soups on the South Fork. Here's a full week's worth of loving spoonfuls

It may come as a bit of a surprise, but it’s true: The early Americans who arrived here on the South Fork in the 1640s, despite being of Puritan stock, got fairly rowdy each December. Have you heard of wassailing?

“Regionalization,” a New York State Education Department project that asks schools to consider partnering up to achieve savings and efficiencies, has garnered considerable controversy in UpIsland communities that view the initiative as the early stages of forced consolidation. But according to school officials here, the South Fork is ahead of the game. Individual districts are already sharing services extensively, they say, and the regionalization initiative is getting far less pushback locally.

Want something nice to talk about on Thanksgiving? Allow yourself to indulge in a little schadenfreude and take joy in the struggles of the hated, the feared, the disgusting, and yes, the misunderstood tick.

PSEG Long Island unveiled its final plan last week for a 69-kilovolt underground transmission circuit that will pass through Sag Harbor, and not the Long Pond Greenbelt.

With the Republican Party winning the White House and both houses of Congress, local immigration attorneys and the nonprofit OLA of Eastern Long Island are preparing for major changes to immigration policy.

The Amagansett School principal, who has been on paid leave since January after being accused of taking a $25 Amazon gift card meant for another staff member, denied the charges as a disciplinary hearing investigating the matter came to its conclusion last week.

“Market hardening” is the insurance industry buzzword of the day. It refers to insurance companies taking steps to preserve their profitability, often by hiking premiums and imposing stricter terms for customers. And when it comes to home insurance, it’s happening right here and right now.

The town planning board, which would need to give site plan approval, has reviewed the Devon Yacht Club's project for over two years before deciding that it could not move forward until knowing whether the Z.B.A. would approve the many variances required, 20 in all: nine for wetland setbacks, eight for dune crest setbacks, and three for front yard setbacks along Abram’s Landing Road.

The town board tackled a quirky piece of legislation at last week’s work session, involving the temporary storage of prefabricated homes. The problem arises when trucks arrive with their oversize loads. They often sit idling, sometimes for hours, while they wait for a local builder to arrive to pick up the goods.

Construction work at a long-controversial nightclub on Three Mile Harbor Road was set to begin three months ago, at which point it became strikingly apparent that the building had no basement at all, as had been assumed during the planning process. Rather than being retained, it would have to be built. This created an issue: Is excavating a new basement an expansion of a nonconforming building?

A bill that would designate Plum Island as a national monument has been passed by the House Natural Resources Committee, paving the way for a congressional vote.

The town board awarded about $120,000 in community development block grants to four organizations last week, Maureen’s Haven and OLA among them.

The owner of the Huntting Inn, spurned by an October decision of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals that a pool and other improvements it had planned for its historic property could not be considered, filed papers last week to sue the board and the village.

By 1971, after almost 200 years of use, Clinton Academy was finally starting to show some wear. In this Star photo, the tulip-shaped cupola gets freshly clad in shingles.